Yachts & Yachting — March 2018

sailing four races per flight. At the

Finals last year in Porto Cervo 12

flights were sailed over three days;

ok,it’snotquiteWilsonTrophystats,

but still, that’s 48 individual races!

LEAGUE OF NATIONS

But all of this is just the tip of the iceberg.

On the continent, Scandinavia and

Russia, ‘league format’ sailing is now

the fastest growing area in sailing with

16 countries with leagues set up in 2017

and more following in 2018. The format

(which differs from those mentioned

so far) is being pushed internationally

by German former Olympian Olivier

Schwall and his team at Konzeptwerft

in Hamburg, who basically copied the

much tried and tested format used for

so long in football, volleyball and other

sports. “It is pretty normal to use the

league format to find out the best club

in your region or country,” Schwall

explains. “We never had that in sailing

in Germany and we wondered why not.

And for the media – they might not

have heard of any sailing classes, but

they can write an article about Munich

or Kiel Yacht Club because they know

where that is and they understand the

‘ranking’ coming from football.”

DIVISIONS AND DEMAND

When they established their Segel

Bundesliga in Germany in 2013 they

standardised the format, the short,

sharp style of racing and the boat type

with the J/70. Today it is annually

contested by 36 clubs across seven

events in Germany. Just like football,

it has a first and a second division

with an annual relegation that sees the

bottom four teams dropping out of

the first division and into the second

at the end of the season and the top

four from the second graduating up.

Equally tough is gaining access to the

second division. In Germany they have

around 1,400 sailing clubs. According

toSchwalllastyeartheywerecontacted

by 60-70 clubs wanting to qualify for the

League so understandably competition

was tough and logistically too many

for a single qualification event. So

for 2018 they are having to introduce

‘pre-qualifiers’ where a club must prove

themselves at events like Kiel Week

before they gain access to the official

qualification event. Even then the top

30 teams are fighting for one of just four

berths available in the second division.

In the Segel Bundesliga, first and

second divisions both race at each of

the seven annual events. The fleet is

kept small, with just six boats sailed by

18 teams. Aside from the obvious fiscal

reasons, this also serves to keep the

racing more open. Schwall explains: “It

makes the racing more spectacular and

interesting. If you round the first mark

in fourth you can still win the race.

With 20 boats if you round in 18th there

isn’t much chance to win any more.”

The format rolls on continually

through the three days and the top crews

are not pulled out into a gold fleet or a

medal race. “We tested that but honestly

it didn’t change anything and it didn’t

add too much value,” says Schwall.

Given all this and the demand, the

league format has great potential to

grow. In addition to its Segel Bundesliga

last year, Schwall’s team ran a separate

youth league for under 21-year-olds.

Beyond this Schwall says there is

potential for a women’s league, regional

leagues or even adding a third division,

as Russia is introducing for 2018.

FUTURE POTENTIAL

In five year’s time Schwall expects at

least 25 countries to have their own

sailing leagues including some outside

of Europe. Once it has reached a certain

size, Schwall reckons that they will

introduce a new level with continental

leagues for, say, Europe, North America

and Asia, the winners of which gain a

berth at an ultimate, global competition.

One wonders if a similar league to

the Segel Bundesliga could be set up

in the UK. Jack Fenwick says of the

British Keelboat League: “Because we

are the governing body we’re more

interested in giving more people the

chance to take part, we like the fact that

it is ‘pay as you go’ sailing and that it

is in different locations. In Germany

they take it very seriously – they have

a transfer window, so you have to be a

member of a club for a year before you

can compete for them.” The reality is, it

would take an independent organiser

to take this on and raise finance for it in

the UK. The format has worked well in

football in the UK so perhaps Barclays

or a similar company could back it?

HOW TO GET INVOLVED

Clubs wishing to take part in the

2018 British Keelboat League must

be affiliated with the RYA and the

crew must all be bona fide members

of the club they’re representing.

Typically at qualification events

each club will field one team; however,

if additional places are available,

clubs can enter up to three teams.

For more information, email Jack

Fenwick at [email protected].

09

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Boosting sailing

for the future

On sale

9 March

2018 BRITISH KEELBOAT

LEAGUE - SCHEDULE

Qualifier 1 Youths (Under 25) - 28-29 October,

Royal Southern YC (J/80)

Qualifier 2 – 2-3 June, Scarborough YC (707)

Qualifier 3 – 9-10 June, Royal Corinthian YC Burnham (707)

Qualifier 4 – 9-10 June, Royal Northern &

Clyde YC (Sonar)

Qualifier 5 – 23-24 June, Royal Torbay YC (SB20)

Qualifier 6 – TBC, Royal Yacht Squadron (J/70)

Finals 28-30 September, Royal Thames YC, Cowes (J/70)

In other sports it is normal to use the league

format to find the best club in your country

Above

Itchenor Sailing

Club were the

clear winners of

the 2017 Finals,

with Ben Saxton

at the helm

KEELBOAT LEAGUE FEATURE

62 Yachts & Yachting March 2018 yachtsandyachting.co.uk